GERMANY – Temporary worker number rise

The number of temporary workers in Germany increased by 5.4% to 791,100 in May 2015, compared with the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Federal Employment Agency (BA).

Month-on-month temporary worker numbers rose by 1.1%.

Temporary worker numbers hit a six-month high in May, up by 5% from 753,464 in December 2014. After a slight dip of 0.9% in February, the number of temporary workers increased month-on-month every month between February and May.

Frank-J Weise, Chairman of BA, commented: “With the onset of the summer break, unemployment increased in July. But on the whole, the labour market is doing well.”

The increase in unemployment, from 6.2% to 6.3%, is primarily attributed to the number of young people searching for work following the end of their education or vocational training.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment figure was 6.4%, unchanged for the past five months.